Battle of Travagliato

The Battle of Travagliato (1441) was a major battle of the Renaissance feuds between the Republic of Venice and the Duchy of Milan. Duca Filippo Maria Visconti of Milan dispatched Banchello da Mandolossa and an army of 11,000 Milanese troops to invade Venetian Lombardy and besiege the city of Brescia, but they faced Francesco da Roncadelle and 10,800 Venetian troops. The result was a decisive Venetian victory in which Hand Gunners played a major role.

Background
The neighboring Republic of Venice and the Duchy of Milan were rivals in the Lombardy region of northern Italy, which had taken Venice 800 years' exertion to conquer. Duke Filippo Maria Visconti of Milan dispatched an army of 11,000 troops under Banchello da Mandolossa to capture the Venetian-held city of Brescia, defended by nearly 11,000 Venetian troops under Francesco da Roncadelle. The Venetians readied for battle against the Milanese army rather than focusing on continuing to besiege Brescia, and battle was joined.

Battle
The Milanese army included the Famiglia Ducale experienced cavalrymen in addition to footmen equipped with swords and shields; the Venetian army was made up of some Stradiot cavalry in addition to some dismounted Broken Lances infantrymen and Hand Gunners. The Venetian army gunners were inexperienced with their weaponry, but managed to distract the Milanese army enough for them to be slaughtered by the Venetian Broken Lances infantrymen. The Albanian Stradiots charged at the Milanese units that made their way behind the Venetian flanks, and Mandolossa was killed. The Milanese were defeated with 8,280 losses, while 3,030 Venetians were killed, wounded, or captured. The Battle of Travagliato was a major victory for Venice, and Venice captured Brescia. However, the rivalry continued.